


Once bitten, Twice shy

by Prismidian



Series: Leisure Activities and Other Works [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-14 11:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1264921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prismidian/pseuds/Prismidian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roderich Edelstein an aristocrat, and his maid Marzia Vargas. Invite trouble into their home, when an act of kindness to a stranger, leads them to discover the awful truth that vampires exist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The life of an aristocratic is a hard and complicated one, at least that was the case for the Austrian man by the name of Rodderich Edelstein.

He had few friends and kept to himself most days, enjoying the simple pleasure of playing his piano at home. Alone in the manor with only one maid to listen to the tune as she worked, of course that was not always the case. Though he felt alone, some days she would sit and listen to his playing, which he didn't mind too much, but only if she got most of her work done already.

She was a curious girl, and often fell asleep when she was supposed to be cleaning. On occasion she'd also ask if she could take in a stay cat or small bird with a broken wing, again, this was something the Austrian didn't mind much; but when he came home to find his kitchen full of stray cats and other small animals, he had no choice but to shoo them all back outside. Disallowing any future strays from being sheltered in his home, much to the young maids disappointment.

The manor rarely had visitors or guests, but it had not always been that way.

Long time ago, there was a another young woman's presences that once graced the halls of the manor. Though she was a bit older than the current maid, she was the childhood friend of the aristocratic, being from a wealthy family herself. Once she was of age they were to be engaged to be married.

The obligation to marry never the problem, she was not only his best friend but beautiful and full of life. On days when Rodderich would rather stay indoors with his piano, she would drag him outside by the hand to push her on the swing outside the manor. She always brought a smile to his face and everyone one around her, but her life was cut short and they never married. 

After that, Rodderich's songs were full of sorrow, he was a talented pianist and composer. Composing a new piece for her seemed to be the only thing that kept him going. An ever present shroud seemed to cover the once joy filled days of his past memories with her. The saddest part was, he knew something was going to happen to her.

When she was young, much younger than when she died, she would play outside in the field or in the forest behind her home. Up until the days she grew and most of her days were spent inside. Her name was Elizaveta Héderváry, but she preferred Lizzy. Rodderich because of his age, always called her by her real name, but she didn't seem to mind it much, or that he was more than a few years older than her. 

They claimed that it was because she had an active imagination, but when she was younger she believed not only that Rodderich had been her friend growing up; But another boy she met in the forest, with silver white hair, red eyes and pale skin, would play with her.  No one else had ever seen the other boy but she insisted he existed. After constant denial by those around her, she started to believe she had made him up, and when she got older she remained indoors. It was only after she began to have nightmares of a man with pale skin and red eyes did she wonder if she had really imagined him.  

Rodderich tried to calm her growing fears by playing his piano, but she still feared that he was following her. Watching her when she left the house and one day he would try to take her back to the forest with him.

Rodderich dismissed it and figured the nightmares would pass, but one night she disappeared. The only thing they could find of hers was a dirty tattered dress she spattered with blood. They could tell there was a struggle but her body was never found. Rodderich believed that she could still be out there and that she might return, just out of the blue, like nothing had ever happened, but it never happened. 

On another dark and dreary night, Marzia was washing the dishes after dinner, humming a soft tune as she worked and Rodderich was seated in the living room with a cup of tea in front of a warm fire. Outside it was pouring rain and he pitied anyone that was outside in this kind of weather.  As a bright flash of lighting lit up the room Rodderich her a fearful squeak from the kitchen before the sound of a plate shattering as it hit the tile floor. 

"Are you alright Marzia?" He called from his chair, glancing up from the book he had been reading to pass the time as he waited to play her a song on the piano before she went to bed.  

"Sì! Im-a ok, almost done!" Marzia called back as she cleaned up the broken plate and tried to hide it before he came to check on her. 

As he went to stand,  he heard something fall against his door with a thud. At first he questioned if it was only his imagination but as he walked towards the front door, he wondered what could have possibly made a sound like that, it almost sounded like a dead body. 

On the other-side of the door, a German woman by the name of Monika Beilschmidt,  was the 'thud' that Rodderich heard. Close to collapse, she had trudged through the mud, that was once a dirt road; But thanks to the heavy rain, her path to sanctuary had become a mudslide of obstacles she had to overcome to reach the Austrians door. She was badly injured, covered in bruises and cuts, her own blood, as well as her attackers, dripping from her short hair and fingertips. Luckily the rainwater had washed away most of her fight and she was merely exhausted. She just needed a safe place to sleep while she regained her strength.

She was no normal visitor to the manor however, not only was she unannounced, but she was barely human. The only thing that gave her an once of humanity was her name and the memories she once had of being human.

She had been cursed to live not dead but not fully alive as a night dwelling vampire after she was bitten a long time ago. The only thing she could remember was, there was a night when she didn't have to hid from the sunlight, but now she was forced to flee from it.

 With every fiber of her being she had pushed to keep walking, though with every step she grew weaker. By the time she  reached the door, she hadn't the strength to knock and merely ran into it.  She never thought it would be opened, she only knew that the pack wouldn't find her this close to a house. She knew she would be killed if she was found, either by a human or the vampires that were hunting her. She only cared for shelter from the rain, and sitting there beside the door she felt safe.

Once Rodderich opened the front door her body that had been slumped against the door, fell into the manor which caused Rodderich to jump.

With rain blowing into his home, he reluctantly grabbed Monika's arms and pulled her further into the house so that he could close the door. Laying in a pool of water, lightly tinted with the color of blood and dirt. Rodderich looked at the broken woman in front of him and he at first assumed she was dead, until she groaned and curled up slightly, which again made the aristocratic man shudder.

".....Are you alright?" He asked a bit hesitantly as he reached a hand out to touch her but quickly pulled it away.

He knew nothing about her, aside from the fact that she was far from 'alright', she looked like she had been through more than her youthful face should.

Her eyes could be seen darting back and forth under their lids as her body shook from the cold.  She was alive, but just barely; her skin was cool to the touch and when he finally placed a hand on her shoulder  she didn't speak, only wincing from the pain of her bruises.

He had told Marzia never to take another stray into the manor but this was different, this was a person, and in desperate need of medical attention. He had no choice but to take her in, besides it's what Elizaveta would have done.

With a heavy sigh he scooped her up off the ground, his sleeves dipped into the puddle around her and he carried her back into the room with the warm fire. Hopefully all she needed was a good nights rest, but looking over her wounds he could tell she would be staying with them for a while. 

The uncomfortable feeling of his now dampen sleeves, could only barely compare to the defeated, shamed, hopeless feeling Monika had as she laid there before she slipped into unconsciousness. 


	2. Chapter 2

Having merely fallen asleep and not dying from her wounds, she woke in a bed, in a guestroom feeling an odd uncomfortable warmth on her face.

Sunlight from the partially closed curtains, shone bright causing her stomach to churn.

Sunlight didn't kill vampires, at least, not at first.

Similar to like what the sun would do to a dead body, first they get really sick and slowly start to dry out until they turn to dust; But that only happened after they had been in the sun for too long, not if it merely touched them.

She thought she'd be able to pull herself from the bed to close the curtain but she was to weak and instead she slid off the and emptied the contents into a bedpan beside the it.

Filling it with of course, blood, since she had fed before she was attacked.

Dragging herself over to the window she pulled the curtains shut and clung to the fabric.

Trembling she knelt by the window and tried to figure out what had happened.

Close to tears she was started when she heard a man speak to her and rush over to her side.

"Mein Gott, are you alright? Vhat are you doing over here?"

She didn't say anything, she just shook her head before she groaned.

"Vell, can I help you?" He asked, again he was trying to assist her but she feared if he knew what she was he would kill her then and there.

She was weak and vulnerable, two things she vowed never to be. 

She felt humiliated, clinging to curtains to keep herself up.

 So when he reached to touch her shoulder she hissed at him and showed her fangs.

He stood and took a few steps back before he bumped into the bedpan full of blood.

The horrified on his face reminded her why humans were so quick to judge her kind, why when they learned what they were they wanted to kill them.

She was a monster, and now she had given up the fight.

 "Is that?...blood?"

"Ja, it is." 

"And you are-?"

"Ja, I am." 

He started at her a moment, tying to think of what to say before she spoke again. 

"I'm nauseous, from the sun, if you plan to kill me, you should do it now." 

"I am not a fan of killing without reason." 

"There are plenty of reasons to kill me." 

 "I don't know your past, but you may stay here for as long as you like, I won't send you away because-"

"Why? What benefit would you have for letting me stay here? I am not another thing to fill your house with."

"I'm not a collector, I am a composer, I see beauty in a perfect instrument, even if others fail to see someone as what they could be. I see people like songs that have yet to be heard, how can you enjoy a song if no one takes the time to listen? I don't want anything from you, it does however make me feel better to think I can help someone down on their luck, but you seem like you can handle yourself. You've just fallen and I only want to help."  

When he offered her his hand, she did take it and he helped her to stand.

She didn't know if she could trust him, but he did help her back into bed and tucked her in. 

"Why are you not afraid of me?" 

"I'm terrified, but that doesn't mean I don't find you fascinating." 


End file.
